The billfish action has been consistent the past couple weeks with multiple shots at Marlin each day. Our anglers have fought some nice size Marlin in the mix. Larger females of 500 lb plus have been reported frequently. The Sailfish have come through in greater numbers than expected this time of year, but we’re not complaining.

The Tuna bite offshore has slowed down but the Dorado have been putting up some good numbers with big ones of 50 lb coming out of the water regularly. Inshore, the Roosterfish have been engulfing live baits, and for a few lucky anglers, they have been able to target them on surface baits.

Offshore the bite has varied this past week due to a drop in pressure and with it a big storm moving through. That said, the fleet still released three Grand Slams. We are catching Blue Marlin on both live and artificial baits past the drop off around 20 miles from the Lodge. Sailfish and Dorado are also in the same area where the Blues are. Yellowfin Tuna are schooling up with the Porpoise and Gannet birds.

We have had a consistent Yellowfin Tuna bite over the last few months and in the past two weeks the billfish have come through in a big way. We are now frequently getting multiple hook ups on Sailfish and the Marlin have not been far behind with boats raising and releasing multiple fish each day. The majority of the Marlin have been Blue Marlin which is expected this time of year. We have also been seeing good numbers of Black Marlin.

Crazy stories about fish frenzies, bucket list fish, downpours and sunburns have been the talk on the dock between guests. Over the past few days we have had an incredible inshore bite with loads of big fish being caught and released; including the highly sought after Roosterfish and Cubera Snapper– many breaking the 50 lb mark. Jigging has also been successful and exciting along the reef and surrounding pinnacles.

Flags have been flying high on our rainbow fleet of Bertrams. Our anglers’ spirits are high as many have ticked off species from their fishing bucket lists. Over the past two weeks the offshore bite has been fun with loads of Yellowfin Tuna going neck and neck against our anglers. We are even releasing Yellowfin as we have had too many to handle! The Dorado have become more frequent with monsters of over 50 lb as the main targets. The Sailfish are beginning to arrive for their annual run and we have been releasing Marlin. The sharks have also been more prevalent this season, which is a great sign of a healthy fishery. Inshore has been an absolute blast with Roosterfish engulfing live bait and the Snapper tearing poppers and live bait without care.

The offshore bonanza is beginning. The pelagic fish are starting to make their way to Piñas Bay. The Yellowfin Tuna are still around in huge numbers and anglers are experiencing feeding frenzies that are nothing short of unbelievable. The season’s first Sailfish are patrolling the waters along with the Dorado, as well the stars of the show, the Marlin. Inshore, the Roosterfish and Cubera Snapper, our most sought after inshore species, are still biting and putting up epic fights.

Tropic Star Lodge is a name well known the world over by avid anglers. It is a place of legendary status that spans generations and has stood the test of time. When anglers hear our name they think of world records, giant Black Marlin, Dorado sizes that defy logic, Tuna schools that encompass acres and inshore giants like Roosterfish and Cubera Snapper. Beyond the fish, guests know Tropic Star for our lush jungle scenes with waves crashing against dramatic volcanic rock formations and our rainbow fleet of Bertram’s in a calm bay.

The bite has been hot the past few days and guests have been taking advantage. Off shore we have had huge shoals of Yellowfin Tuna, (more than we know what to do with in fact) and we have been releasing as many as possible. On the reef, the smaller tuna have been feeding on squid; and the Black Marlin feeding on the tuna. Closer to shore the roosterfish!

Tropic Star Lodge was eager to welcome anglers back for the 4th Annual Roosterfish Tournament, a qualifying tournament for the Offshore World Championships. The Roosterfish bite turned on in a big way just one week before the tournament. Anglers were excited and the captains and mates were ready for three days of Gallo hunting. The bite for the tournament was great with many Roosterfish released at over 45 lb and at least eight fish released were over 50 lb.

The inshore bite is in full swing and anglers are ticking species off their bucket list daily. Whether it is the prehistoric looking Cubera Snapper with their fierce looking teeth or the agile and relentless punk rocker of the sea, the Roosterfish.

The Black Marlin bite kicked off the week in style with great numbers of fish raised, a few missed and many putting on the show that only Her Majesty can. As the week went on the Black Marlin bite slowed and our anglers witnessed many of the fish tailing on the surface only looking at the bait. The Yellowfin Tuna came through in droves and the frenzies were a sight to see as guests had loads of fun casting their poppers. The Sailfish and Dorado are still around with some giant bulls arriving at the dock each afternoon. Inshore turned on this week with high numbers of Roosterfish released along with the prehistoric-looking Cubera Snappers.

The Black marlin have been providing anglers with adrenaline rushes and aerial acrobatics that just can’t be matched. Yellowfin Tuna have started to smash the surface in huge shoals with pods of Porpoise and birds diving into the bait balls in spectacular fashion. Guests are witnessing Tropic Star’s legendary tuna feeding frenzies and are catching an abundance of hook-to-table Sashimi.

The Marlin bite this last week was one of those that you hope and dream to be part of. Some boats did better than others, but every boat released a Black Marlin. From private sport fishers to our fleet of 31’ Bertram’s, everyone was astern chasing down Marlin. The larger females have arrived and are attacking our baits. The Black Marlin bite was just five to eight miles from the Lodge.

Black Marlin are coming through the reef to feed in droves and it has been nothing short of incredible here at Tropic Star Lodge. The Black Marlin bite is just seven miles away from the Lodge and Blue Marlin are cruising at the drop off joined by insane amounts of Dorado.

The Marlin bite moved further offshore this week with the majority of the fish caught along the drop off and in the deeper water. The bite was a bit of a lazy one with many of the fish attacking the bait more lethargically than usual. On many occasions the Marlin had to be teased to take a bait, live or artificial. The majority of fish were caught when targeting floating debris on the water. The bait is still extremely thick around the Zane Grey Reef and this week the fleet released more Blue Marlin offshore opposed to the week before which was mostly Blacks on the reef.

Grand slams in fishing are something that many anglers aim to achieve for and this past week our anglers were lucky enough to release two Boat Slams and one personal Grand Slam taking us to 13 for the season. Due to the enduring rainy season and delay of summer, the fishing has not been what we typically experience for this time of year. The bite has varied day to day, explosive for a day or two followed by one or two days where is slows down a bit.

Our rainbow-colored fleet of Bertrams have been hard at work with the full fleet out fishing every day. The action has been great. We added a few Grand Slams to our count this week bringing our total to 10 for the season so far! The smaller Blue Marlin have been showing up in the shallows close to the Lodge and we have released Black Marlin on and around the Zane Grey Reef.

The year has ticked over and it is Marlin season down at Tropic Star Lodge. At the first of the year the Marlin bite picked up with Blue Marlin offshore and some of the larger female Black Marlin released on the Zane Grey Reef. The past few days we have seen a tremendous amount of Dorado in the size range of around 30 lb to 60 lb.

While the year is drawing to a close, it is only the beginning of our new fishing season and it has been an incredible one so far. We produced even more Grand Slams since the last report and came very close to a few more. The Marlin bite offshore has been on fire with amazing numbers of fish being raised and released. It did slow down a little towards Christmas. That is when in the extra-large-Tropic-Star-Lodge size Dorado came through in droves. In amongst the Spinner Dolphin, a few lucky guests hooked up to some arm stretching Tuna. The largest of the week was landed at 190 lb. Numerous larger Yellowfin, unfortunately, were lost on the leader right next to the boat.

In my last fishing report I was excited with how the bite was taking shape and there is no doubt my excitement has only increased. I’m sitting in my office at Tropic Star Lodge on Monday morning listening to the shouts on the radio of Captains hooking up to Marlin. Yesterday was an incredible day yet again with our 5th Grand Slam for the season and it’s only the start of our fourth week. There have been two personal Grand Slams and three boat slams so far, thank you Neptune! (EDIT: We’ve had 2 more grand slams TODAY which will be detailed in the next report!)